For All The Right Reasons
by Smex Lemur
Summary: Besides, how could I, Usui Horokeu, selfproclaimed Babe Magnet, ever fall for a guy like him? He was annoying, demanding, arrogant… HoroRenHoro. COMPLETE.
1. I hate your guts

_Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King, nor do I own Romeo and Juliet. _

_AN: Well, hi there! This fic is already finished and I'll be posting the chapters every other day or so. I hope you'll review it and like it of course :3_

_I know Romeo and Juliet isn't exactly original, but I like fics like that. Besides, it won't be completely about the play at all- I just wanted them to have something where they had to work together and it'll help with the development of their relationship. There won't be a lot of Romeo and Juliet going on, at least, not really in detail, anyway. _

_I don't claim to know a lot about Romeo and Juliet- I personally have never seen the play. I've read the book though, so I'll try my best. _

**Chapter 1: I Hate Your Guts And There's Nothing You Can Do About It**

Ren was, for the bigger part, a very quiet, calm person. He usually just thought things through- thinking, before acting. He usually didn't like yelling too much; he hated loud things. Ren enjoyed reading books and training his body- he hated music and television as they were simply a distraction. He hated his family, with maybe the slight exception of his sister Jun- family was just a word. He had never experienced the true warmth a family could give you. His father was abusive and his mother… well, she just let his father have his way with him. He hated her too.

In fact, there weren't many things he liked.

Ren was a complicated person. He had many walls surrounding his heart, which was in fact a very caring one. He didn't like people invading his personal space; if he didn't like you, even a mile in his neighbourhood would be too much. Ren was also scared of a lot of things, even though you would never notice- he hated small spaces as his father used to lock him up in a small cell, even smaller than the smallest broom closet you could ever imagine, as punishment for whatever tiny thing he had done wrong. Or whenever his father would just feel like it, of course. Ren wasn't too fond of heights either and he absolutely despised the dark.

Ren wasn't proud of the things he had done in his life; he practically hated himself. Hours of training and reading were merely to keep his mind occupied and were only to refrain his mind from wondering to the everlasting question: why do I even live?

However, training and reading would not help him at night, when he was alone in the dark with only his thoughts to keep him company. He was practically an insomniac.

Of all the things that he had done in his life, transferring to another school had been the worst decision he (or rather, his father) had ever made. Or so he thought in the beginning. Later in his life, he would think back on those days and would say that they had actually saved him.

--

I hate my life. Well, not really, but I hate life right now. Coincidence? I think not.

In fact, this is where my story actually begins.

I guess you could say that I wasn't too happy about being forced into a play. It's not like I am the most talented actor in school and, even though that damn teacher, Mr. Silva, knew about it, I still got the main part for the damn Romeo and Juliet-play the class is going to perform six months later. Guess what part I'm playing? Oh yeah. Juliet.

Perhaps that is why I'm very mad at the moment.

It wasn't as if I have any choice in the matter- thing is, I'm actually failing English. And I do _not _want to go to summer school. So, the teacher came up with something else- I have to be in the play, playing a big role. And just to spite me (and I know he's spiting me!), Silva actually gave me, Usui HoroHoro, the part of Juliet, saying that I looked like a girl and that there were no other girls who wanted to play Juliet- seeing as there were no girls at all who wanted to be in the play. I do not look like a girl, by the way.

Everybody disagreed though.

The girls in my class (and I mean the really girly girls, whose faces have enough make-up on them to paint an entire Picasso) had actually begun making a nice dress for me to wear and were already talking about which lipstick would be perfect to bring out my 'beautiful eyes'. Of course, I know I have beautiful eyes, but that doesn't make me a perfect Juliet!

Of course, the news went all over the school and everybody was talking about it ("Do you think he has to kiss another _boy_?" "I heard they're going to have an entire sex-scene!" "Does that mean Horo is _gay?_" "Whose going to play Romeo? You think it's that hot guy, you know, his friend, Yoh-something?"), which is very bad for my reputation.

Seeing as this is high school, it is very bad for my reputation. I mean, I'm going through puberty, for crying out loud! Doesn't Silva know that puberty is the most important period in a man's life? What do you think wearing a dress in front of the entire school is going to do to me anyway? I'll be lucky if I don't have to see a psychiatrist for the rest of my life.

And then, of course, there's also the little fact that, if you're not popular, you'll be laughed at for eternity. Well, at least until high school's over. Let me just tell you something right now: High school is all about popularity. High school is made out of cliques, it's the place where you can either become a God, or a total loser. There is no gray area. It may sound cliché, but it is the truth. If you belong with the cheerleaders and jocks, then you're a God, even though you might not be the brightest light. If you belong with the chess players and computer freaks, or any other 'clique' people don't want to belong with, then you are a loser. And wearing a dress when you're actually a guy, does not make you popular. Just for the record.

Anyway, back to the problem at hand: my everlasting quest for popularity and the man who smashed it into pieces with one simple blow. In other words: that bastard Silva with his stupid play.

I am actually quite curious as to who his 'Romeo' was going to be, to be honest. I hope he's at least a bit hot. I mean, don't get me wrong, but if I really do have to kiss a guy, I need to make sure it would be a handsome one.

Not that I'm gay!

Don't get the wrong idea here- I'm very manly. I am, in fact, a very manly man. In fact, I am the manliest man around. Nobody can ever beat my manliness. I love girls- in fact, I probably couldn't even settle with one hot girl, because I want so many of them.

Yeah.

I'm just curious.

At least, that's what I kept telling himself.

--

"Class, let me introduce you to our new student, Tao Ren," Mr. Silva states happily, pointing his finger at the boy standing next to him. The whole class looks up, curious to see their new classmate (and the girls are, of course, curious to see if a new potential boyfriend had arrived- or, as I like to call it, curious to see if they had a new target for their deadly Trap Of Deadly Dating…Death. TODDD.). I look up and my blue eyes lock with golden ones.

The boy- Ren- looks at me briefly, a face without expression; he seems to be not very interested in me and looks down instead. I can't stop looking. He seems cold, though his eyes hold a certain warmth within them, if I squint my eyes really, really well. He wears the regular school's clothes- dark blue trousers, a white shirt and a blue jacket, which suits his body very well. His hair is a dark shade of purple and he has one, weird point on the back, which looks rather nice, though it is quite different. He is rather muscular- more so than I am, simply because I'm too lazy to work out. Clearly, the new kid did. And his face… for a brief moment, I have the feeling that I could look at that face forever.

That moment was over when I remind myself that he I'm not gay.

I love girls. And boobs! Girls and boobs- things can't get any better.

"Well, Ren, would you like to tell us something about yourself?" Silva says once again, still as happy as ever. He clearly doesn't see the glare of death Ren is giving him.

"I'm sixteen," he finally says. It's one year younger than I am, but he might turn seventeen soon. I have no idea. The girls are swooning over his deep voice which cuts through the silent classroom. Silence follows and Mr. Silva blinks, waiting for Ren to say more. Ren looks at Silva and continues, figuring the teacher is waiting for him to say more. "I enjoy reading. I came from China, my parents thought it would be good to learn some more of Japan and sent me here." Silva nods in approval. Okay, so the guy didn't like a lot of things. Or he doesn't like sharing them with perfect strangers. Understandable.

"Good, does anyone want to ask any questions?" I can clearly see Ren rolling his eyes and I find some form of irritation welling up inside of me- the guy was obviously an arrogant prick, next to being shy and maybe, just maybe, a bit nice. I hate arrogant people. One girl, the poor thing, raises her hand, giggling.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" She giggles some more and her friends join her. Even Marco, one of the jocks who doesn't have an intelligent bone in his body, giggles along. If the guy had any dignity, he would have at least laughed. But, since he is a mindless doll being controlled by Jeanne herself, he giggles.

"I'm not interested in girls. I think that they are stupid, mindless and weak beings with absolutely no use at all, with the exception of bearing children." Well, that certainly silences the whole class. Tip number one: When one wants to silence a classroom, one must insult half of said class.

The same girl raises her hand again, still a bit startled.

"Then… are you, like, gay?" I nearly choke to death from laughing at that stupid question. Of course, it came from one of the most idiotic girls in their class, but still- Ren's face is priceless. Before Ren could answer the question, Silva interrupts nervously, patting said, now very annoyed, boy on the head. Ren's scowl becomes even worse at the touch and he quickly shakes off the hand.

"Well, take your seat. Why don't you go sit next to Horo over there?" Silva points at me. I am sitting next to the window with the most idiotic grin plastered on my face. It is amusing to see Ren scowl.

When he sits down, I decide to say at least something. I have to keep up my wonderful reputation of being friendly! "Hey," I hiss, still grinning. "Don't pay attention to Jeanne, she's one of the idiots in class." My grin becomes even wider, but falters a bit as Ren rolls his eyes at me.

"You're the other one then?" I look offended, but before I can say anything more, Silva tells us to get out our books. I grumble, but don't say anything more- the arrogant bastard isn't even worth it.

"Very well, where did we left off?" Silva mumbles to himself. "Ah yes! We were reviewing Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Let's see, Horo, you'll play Juliet of course-" I grumble in response, "- And as for Romeo… Let's hear Ren! We'll start from Act one, Scene five. Go ahead Ren." The whole class breaks out in whispers as I stand up, along with Ren, both with a scowl on our faces. However, it is completely silent as Ren's deep voice speaks.

"If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss." Some girls sigh and I look surprised at the way Ren spoke the words with so much emotion, but as soon as Ren finishes, I begin speaking as well, surprising the entire class, including Mr. Silva.

"Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, which mannerly devotion shows in this; for saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch, and palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss." It was so flawless, it nearly shocked Silva. Of course, he has never heard me perform before, but he was still shocked that a guy like me could do it so well. The same went for Ren, who looks at me with widened eyes. God, do I really look like an idiot? People sure treat me that way.

"Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?"

"Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer."

" O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do; they pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair." By now, the whole class is gaping at us, including Silva. The teacher is holding his book to his chest tightly, as though hugging it, and he has the most peculiar sparkle in his eyes. I know that look, of course, but Ren didn't. The poor guy.

"That was _amazing!_" He squeals. It was weird how a grown, tall man like him could actually squeal like a girl. But then again, with that long black hair, he kind of already looked like a girl. "Ren, you _must _play Romeo! You have the talent, you're simply perfect!"

"_WHAT!_" Me and Ren both slam our hands on our desk as one as we shout the word. I refuse to kiss Ren! He is a bastard, he is arrogant, he's ugly! … Ok, maybe not that, but he certainly is a bastard! How can Silva expect me to perform _love scenes _with this guy? It's impossible!

"It's true," Silva says, a little calmed down by now. "Horo, your performance was amazing, I would've never expected you to be so gifted, but Ren's performance was wonderful as well! You two would make the perfect Romeo and Juliet. You can't refuse Ren- trust me, you can't. I will eventually make you play the part, so let's just spare us both the time and agony and accept it." Ren's eye twitches in annoyance. I let out a sigh- if Silva wanted something, he would get it. It was like gravity- you can't escape it.

"Fine," he says quietly. The whole class immediately starts talking about it. Fantastic. There goes my reputation. Not that I had one or anything, but there goes my chance. Why does God hate me? Was it because I sprayed graffiti on a church wall once? That was five years ago, get over it man!

"Fabulous! Rehearsal starts in one month, but I'd start sooner with rehearsing at home," Silva says happily, clapping his hands together. Honestly, he looks like a child when he does that. "You can make appointments on when to rehearse after class, we'll continue with Act one, Scene one. Yoh and Manta, will you please stand up."

--

"Oi, bastard!" I yell after class, jogging after that bastard- AKA Ren. "I suppose we have to rehearse soon. Your place or my place?" I need to keep this conversation as short as possible, I don't want the bastard-germs.

"Yours." He doesn't seem to want a long conversation either.

"When? Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow."

"That'll be a problem," I mutter, scratching my head. I must've looked like a monkey trying to figure out a puzzle, because Ren seemed to be quite amused when I did so. "My sister is having some friends over and I'm kind of banished," I give him a grin. "At least until 8 p.m., I originally would stay with a friend, but I guess that won't be necessary now." My grins seem to have a certain effect on the boy. Annoyance, probably, which is good. Since I like annoying him.

"We can't rehearse at my place," he answers.

"Why not?"

"Because I say so."

"That's not a reason!"

"It is, when I say it is."

"Damnit Ren, we will rehearse at your place and you're going to like it!" Probably not the most mature answer I could come up with, but, then again, I'm not really the most mature person around and, frankly, I don't care about maturity right now. Ren just gives me a scowl, before nodding reluctantly and walking off. I sigh- how can I ever stand this guy for six months? I probably can't. And I'm not kidding.

**--**

"He's such a bastard!"

"Come on, he can't be that bad."

"He is!"

"Remember what I always tell you, Horo?"

"Yes, yes," I scrunch my nose in disgust, before making a very bored-looking face. I've been imitating Yoh for so long now, I practically _am _him. " 'Always look at the good side of people, because no person is really bad. And if they are, then they are vampires.' What kind of logic is that anyway? I mean, what if there was a person who raped somebody- does that mean that they are nice people?"

"No, that makes them vampires," Yoh says, smiling lazily from his seat in the grass. It is lunchtime and Yoh and I are sitting outside underneath the tree, our regular place. Manta and Ryu will probably join us pretty soon. This is actually the place where me and my lazy friend met each other; Marco was beating me up and he came to my rescue. So we could both get beat up.

Good times.

"Whatever. How did I end up with a weird friend like you?" Yoh is about to say something, before I raise a hand in order to stop him. "No, wait, I don't want to remember. Does it make Anna a vampire too?" Yoh seems to contemplate that question for a moment.

"Yes. I believe it does," he chuckles. I laugh along with the poor guy.

"I can't believe she's your fiancée though, your family must be crazy," I give my friend a sympathetic smile, as he looks horrified at the memory.

"Horo, let's talk about something else. Like your hatred towards this new kid. How come you hate him so much? He didn't do anything, right? Or is it just because Silva made him your Romeo?" Yoh chuckles at the thought and laughs even more when he sees my red face.

"That is not the reason!" I yell indignantly.

"Yeah right," Yoh laughs, before waving. "Manta, Ryu! Over here!" The small boy smiles as both of them sit down.

"You don't have to yell, you know," he points out. "We know where to sit by now, since we've been sitting here for the past year."

"It's tradition, I can't help it," the lazy boy replies, making me roll my eyes. Yoh would never change.

"By the way," Manta says suddenly. "I've invited that Ren-kid to come sit with us. He'll get here (Me: "You did _WHAT!"_) soon, said something about finding milk. Anyway- would you stop banging your head against that tree Horo? You're killing it- he didn't know anyone, so I figured he could sit here."

"Sure Manta, I think Horo would find it _fabulous_," Yoh replies, which makes all three of them chuckle. I, however, don't see the humour, so I just ignore them. "Ren! Over here!" For a moment, it looks as if Ren looks over the group sitting there. He gives us the 'I'm-better-than-you-but-I'll-just-humour-you-look', before walking slowly to me and the others and sitting down as far away from me- not that I want him to sit with me. In fact, I don't want him here at all.

"So… Ren, how is school going so far?" Manta asks, smiling at him. Yoh looks up briefly from his spot in the shade- he has already finished his lunch and was now 'relaxing'. As if he never did that.

"Hm." Silence. Manta's smile widens a bit, this time forced. I just look annoyed, trying to keep my temper. Which is a very hard thing to do.

"Is that-"

"You know, you can just answer someone's question!" Okay, so I lost my temper after five seconds. That could happen to anybody! I vaguely see Yoh opening his eyes and smirking- I don't really pay attention though. My lazy friend apparently thinks that things are getting interesting, but not interesting enough; he's already lying down again.

"And why should I?" Ren asks in return.

"Because Manta here invited you out of politeness, and you're not even trying," I counter. He just smirks again.

"I never asked him to invite me." Ren retorts. "Idiot," he adds, smirking when he sees me turning red. I'm so bad at insults, so I can't come up with any. Don't you hate that? When you are being insulted and you can't come up with anything until one hour later and you think 'Damn, I should've said that!'? I always have that, I'm sure it sounds familiar to you guys. If it doesn't: then teach me how to insult people. I really need some lessons in that.

"Guys, it doesn't matter," Manta says, grinning nervously at us. He didn't like fights that much and I know it, but I don't really care at the moment. If he sees a lot of blood, it'll turn him into a man.

"Why you- Gr- Gha-Bastard!" I yell, ignoring Manta completely.

"Very articulate of you, Horo," Ren smirks. I think my head is about to explode; I just know my face is bright red and I feel a vein throbbing on my forehead. I mumble something, before I stomp off towards the school's entrance, leaving the others staring. With the exception of Ren, of course, who is drinking his milk calmly as if nothing has happened.


	2. Families Aren't What They Used To Be

_Disclaimer: Don't own it. If I did, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction. _

_AN: Second chapter is up! Enjoy it, folks :3 Thanks for the reviews –hugs- _

_Please leave a review, if you feel like it xD._

**Chapter 2: Families Aren't What They Used To Be**

"You live _here_?" I ask, dazzled by the giant mansion standing in front of me. Ren just rolls his eyes at me.

"No, I live in the tree next to it. Hurry up."

"You know, I don't think it can be good for you to be sarcastic all the time," I mutter quietly. One of the positive qualities I have, is that I can easily forgive and forget. Of course, Ren is still being an ass towards me, but I have already forgotten about our fight the day before. I try to act calmly now, but the Chinese boy is really giving me a hard time, making me almost go into serial-killer-mode. But, I have promised Yoh that I won't kill anyone. I shouldn't have made that promise though.

I think Ren almost let's out a chuckle at that comment. Almost. "Come on," he says, while a _servant _opens the door for us. The inside of the house makes me gasp as well- I have never been in such a gigantic one ever. Sure, Yoh's place is pretty big, but it's nowhere near Ren's mansion. "Are mother and father home?" Ren asks a servant, who is taking their coats. I don't really pay attention to the conversation, since I am still busy gaping. Just a bit of drool, and the image would've been complete. The servant shakes his head, before walking off towards what seems to be the living room. Ren walks towards the staircase in the middle of the hallway, gesturing me to follow him. I do so, as I don't want to get lost.

Two staircases later, I find myself standing in Ren's room. It is all a dark shade of purple- just like his hair- and quite spacey. The bed is a king-sized one, he has the biggest television Horo has ever seen, a laptop stands on his desk, a cell phone lying next to it. The guy seems to have everything. The fact that everything is very neat and tidy, doesn't escape me either. Ren's servants must clean it about every day of the week- it could never be this neat otherwise.

"Nice room," I say, nodding my head in approval. I really like it, except the neatness. I think a bedroom should at least have some junk lying on the floor. "Hey!" I scoot over to where Ren's DVD's are neatly put in the closet and start looking through them. "Wow, awesome movies you have here. Could we watch one?" I ask, in an almost whining voice.

"We have to rehearse first, so we'll be done with that," Ren says, surprising me that he actually complied watching a movie with me. I nod happily, before bouncing to the other side of the room where Ren is standing.

"Where should we start? As long as we'll leave the kissing-scenes for the end, I don't care," I scrunch my nose at the thought and Ren shrugs.

"I don't think we'll have to kiss during rehearsal," he retorts. "Probably only during the performance."

"Hope not."

"Kissing is that bad?" I blink once.

"You've never kissed anyone? Well, it's not bad, I think. I mean, at least when you do it with a _girl_." Ren seems to think about that, while I'm still blinking confusedly. The question Ren has asked seemed so… innocent. Very unlike Ren, really, because I have already named him the 'Spawn of the Devil Himself' just a few hours before.

"I've seen a lot of guys kissing with other men. They don't seem to have a problem with it," Ren finally speaks, while rummaging in his bag, probably to find the script Silva has given us. I think about it for a moment- it's true. They don't have a problem with it and they seem to like it. But, then again, a boy kissing a girl likes it too.

"Well, I don't think it's bad, but I wouldn't do it myself," I say, scratching my head. "But, I guess, maybe it could happen. If I love someone, gender doesn't really matter, right?" I blink again, surprised that it actually comes out of my mouth and in front of the person I hate most. Well, maybe not the person I hate most, because Ren actually acts nice right now. Maybe the mansion has some mystical power that can turn any bastard into a nice person and- wow, stop. I'm beginning to have thoughts like Yoh, which is not a good thing. Honestly, vampires? Yoh's nice, but he's sometimes a bit weird. Pirika won't like it if I go out and hang out at the graveyard every full moon to look at the stars, like he does. She'd kill me.

So, anyway, I look at Ren once again and try to figure out what was going on with him. The stoic boy has a strange expression on his face, a frown of some sort. It has been there ever since I said the word 'love'. I may not look like it, but I am a very observant person and I certainly haven't missed the reaction of Ren. I'm kind of wondering what I have said wrong.

"Anyway, let's just get started so we can watch a movie!" I say, grinning. I have decided to change the topic. Ren nods slowly, after he rolls his eyes at me, but not with so much irritation as he had done with Silva. This time, it seems as though he's amused. He hands me a script.

"Let's start with Act One, Scene Five," he says. I nod happily- it is one of my favourite parts. If I hadn't been in the play, of course.

--

After we're done, Ren asks me what movie I'd like to see. Which surprises me, because Ren looks like a guy who does everything he wants to do and not what others want. I need to get some more into that.

"Really? You're letting me choose?" I ask him, surprise evident. Ren growls something, before replying.

"No, I actually just asked that out of politeness," he says, which sounds more Ren-like. Maybe I should give his behaviour a name?

Renism. Nah, that sounds like a religion.

Renish. Nah, that sounds like a religion too.

Rentroversion. Sounds good, we'll keep that one for now.

"Let's watch Lord of the Rings, I haven't seen the third one yet," Ren says. I've always loved those movies, though I personally would've picked another one. Beggars can't be choosers, I suppose.

During the movie, I keep glancing at Ren, who is watching the film with great interest. I have already seen the movie six times, so my interest fades when there are parts I don't like. The boy next to me, feels like a big mystery to me. He's unlike anyone I have ever met and strangely, I want to know everything about him. I have no idea why, but he interests me.

My eyes wander over to his hands, his fingers are fumbling with the cloth of his black sweater nervously, as if he's uncomfortable right now. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I'm in his room? But he hadn't been nervous before, so it is quite odd.

Interrupting my current thoughts, someone knocks on the door and immediately opens it. Now, I personally don't get scared easy- I mean, I can't think of any fear I have at this moment, but the man standing in the doorway of Ren's room certainly _does _scare me. A lot.

He is big. Very big. He has an odd sort of beard, black hair and… well, his entire body seems to be covered in hair. Ren immediately tenses as the man speaks to him- he's gripping his sweater a lot tighter, his eyes fixed on the man.

"Ren, are you not going to introduce us?" The man says, looking at me with mild interest. He doesn't seem to want my name that bad, but he's just asking it out of politeness. I decide that I don't like him.

"Father, this is Horo- I'm sorry Horo, I don't know your last name," he mumbles softly. I tried giving him a reassuring smile, but I don't think it's even a real smile- I stand up and walk towards the gigantic man- obviously Ren's father. I hold out my hand and he takes it.

"Usui HoroHoro, or Horokeu, or you can call me Horo," I say brightly, confident. At least, I try to sound like that. Ren's father doesn't seem too impressed and he looks me over, making me even more nervous.

"Tao En," he booms, his very deep voice cutting through the silent and tense room. "Ren, is he staying for dinner?" He says, looking over me at Ren. I look over my shoulder as well- we hadn't actually made any arrangements, but he knows I don't get to go home until it's 8 p.m. . Damn sisters. Whoever invented those, must have had serious problems. Or must have been a woman. Anyway, Ren blinks and looks hopefully at me.

"Yes, he will," he says. "And he'll spend the night here too," Ah, I guess Ren has some friendliness in that- Wait. Stop. Rewind. Did he just say I'm going to spend the night here? That can't be right.

"Eh, Ren?"

"His sister is having some friends over, so he'll be staying here," Ren says, almost growling. He doesn't look away from me as he's saying it and I find it hard to look back at his father as his golden eyes pierce right through me. "Or is that not okay with you, father?" I breathe a sigh out of relief as he looks back at his father.

"Of course it is," he says, though he doesn't seem to be alright with it. The vein on his forehead tells me so. "Be downstairs in thirty minutes." Tao En turns and walks away, slamming the door in my face. I guess I now know where Ren gets his social skills from. Though, Ren's are a bit better, I grant him that. I turn around to face the Chinese boy.

"Explain." Ren shrugs, turns around and faces the movie.

"I know that look," he says, leaving me even more confused. I walk over towards him and sit down next to him, my face confused. "You need a place to stay, right?"

"Yeah, but only until-"

"Then just stay," he says, looking at me with piercing eyes. Somehow, I feel my heart sink at the look he gives me; it's almost pleading, as if he doesn't want to be left alone. I shrug and nod- it can't hurt to stay over. His pleading face immediately turns into his famous blank one and he hits the 'play' button on his remote control, the sound of Orcs being killed booming through his room .

"I'll have to get some clean clothes though," I mumble.

"Indeed," he replies, smirking.

"Are you implying that I stink?" I huff. His smirk grows wider and nods. I stick my nose up in the air playfully and he chuckles. I think this is the first time I hear him laugh, and, to be honest, I really like it. I give my attention to the movie again, though I sometimes glance towards the boy next to me, who almost feels as a friend. Almost.

--

Dinner is awkward, to say the least. I must say that Ren has a very interesting family. I met Jun, Ren's older sister and his mother (I didn't catch her name) and, at this moment, we're all sitting together at the dinner table. Like one, big happy family. Yeah right.

Everything is quiet as we eat, I occasionally glance over to Ren, who seems to go to tense-mode whenever he's with his family. I'm afraid to speak, so I try to refrain myself from saying anything stupid, which is very hard for me. Whenever I'm bored, I always like to give people updates on what I'm thinking- random comments slip out of my mouth, such as 'that fly sure is big!' or 'hey, did anyone fart?', etcetera, but that doesn't seem to be a very good idea in this situation.

After dinner, Ren immediately pulls me towards his bedroom. I really don't want to pry, but I can't help it- I mean, I'm a victim here! First he wants me to stay the night, then he forces me to have dinner with his creepy family and then he starts dragging me all over the place. God, I need to get out of this house for at least an hour- so, I tell him that I'd like to get my toothbrush and some clean clothes for tomorrow from my place. I invite him to come along, because he doesn't seem like he wants to be alone- every time I go to the bathroom, he tenses and looks at the door. I don't know why, but he seems to feel safe with me somehow. I'm definitely going to question him some more once we get outside, I can't take this. I hate not-knowing-things.

"Alright, let's go," Ren says and starts dragging me downstairs. Where does he get that urge to pull me around? "Is it far from here?" Is it? I have no idea, I think not, so I shake my head. "Good, then we'll walk." I nod in agreement- the last thing I want is one of them creepy servants drive us to my house.

--

"Piriki, I'm home!" I shout as I open the front door. I hear some girls giggling- it's coming from the living room.

"Brother, _why _are you here?" My sister stands in front of me, hands placed on her hips. God, she looks scary like that; of course, she always looks scary. She looks at Ren for a second and I can see her face flush. "And aren't you going to introduce us?" She smiles at the Chinese boy shyly, who just looks away from her, uninterested. I can't help but feel slightly triumphant at that. But why? No idea.

"Right, Pirika, this is Ren. Ren, this is Pirika, my little sister," I say. Ren snorts slightly and I give him a small nudge in his ribs. Just because he's a prick, doesn't mean that he can ignore my family members! This brings back some memories of when we first met.

"Nice to meet you," he mumbles, still very disinterested. He wasn't kidding when he said he didn't like girls. My sister walks up to him and practically glues herself to his arm, much to his annoyance. I snicker at him as he sends me a glare.

"Come on, you must meet the other girls! Finally my brother brings home a nice looking guy, who doesn't look as if he can fall asleep any second now!"

"Pirika, hate to bother your little sleepover, but I'll be taking Ren with me," I say, saving him from the claws of my evil sister. He looks at me, clearly relieved, as I take his arm and guide him up to my room. "Well, it's nothing fancy like your room, but it's home," I say, grinning nervously. I feel slightly self-conscious about my room- I mean, my sister and I aren't rich, so we can't really afford any expensive stuff- we barely have enough for food and clothes. I open the door for him and he steps in, looking around immediately.

"It's messy," he says. I grin apologetically at him- he's right. You can barely see the ground as all of my dirty clothes are on it. I really do need to clean it up some time soon. "But I like it." Was that just a compliment, or do my ears deceive me?

"Great," I say, grinning from ear to ear. Why the hell does a compliment, however small it is, matters so much to me when he gives it? I'm so hopeless. Maybe it's wanting approval from someone- I certainly am not getting it from Pirika or anybody else. Or maybe I'm just hopeless. Whatever.

"Your sister is annoying," he points out finally, as I'm gathering some clothes.

"I know," I reply, smiling. She really is, but she's caring as well. I guess she's annoying, because she cares? People can be so confusing sometimes.

"Where are your parents?" Somehow, I saw this question coming.

"They're dead, died in a car crash," I reply, standing up straight with my bag. "I was eight when it happened, don't remember much about it, really. Me and my sister were lucky- we were in the backseat and we didn't have a scratch on us."

"You've been… living alone since then?"

"Yeah, well, sort of." I smile at him, a bit forced. I don't really like talking about my past that much, but I guess I could tell Ren. He would've asked me sooner or later anyway. "My uncle took care of us until I was twelve, then he sent us away. He gives us some money to pay the rent, food and other stuff. Pirika and I didn't really like him, so we didn't mind, really. He told us to keep our mouths shut to anyone and he'd give us money- I guess he didn't really like us either." Ren nods seriously. "So, what's your story?"

I can see him tense immediately.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me, China-boy. What's up with you and your family?" Ren shrugs, narrowing his eyes at me.

"My father beats me on a regular base, I suppose. He locks me up in 'the Cell', as he calls it, threw me out of the attic in our previous house once. Mother doesn't really do anything about it, my sister tries sometimes, but she'll just get beaten too whenever she does that." He says these things like they are nothing! Well, it sure explains a lot, I guess. "Don't give me that look, Horo."

"What look?"

"The pity-look. I only told you this because you don't seem to have had an easy childhood either. You should understand that I hate pity, just like you hate it." I nod, slowly.

People: if I die in the next five minutes, please, do not cry about me.

"I hate pity, but I hate not being able to talk about it. Or… not having some form of comfort." I put down my bag and walk over to him. For a moment, I hesitate, but the next thing I know, I'm holding Ren closely in an embrace. At first, he tenses greatly, but after about five seconds he actually returns it, to my great surprise.

Why am I feeling like I don't want to let go of the guy? I mean, he _is _a guy; I'm not supposed to hold him like this. Sure, me and Yoh hug once in a while, but not like this and certainly not this long.

And I certainly never have a warm, fuzzy feeling in my stomach whenever I hug him.

… did I just say that?

Okay, just scratch that last part. I do not have warm, fuzzy feelings! Ew! Boobs. Boobs. Boobs.

I just figured out that the 'boob'-method isn't working anymore. I reluctantly let go of Ren and he still seems a bit confused about the whole 'hug-thing'. And, to be honest, I am too. I give him a reassuring grin and grab my bag.

"Well, let's go! We still need to watch a bunch of movies." Ren rolls his eyes at me, but seems to be quite amused.

"Idiot."

Somehow, it doesn't sound insulting.


	3. HoroHoro's Plan And How It Failed

_Disclaimer: The usual thing applies- don't own it. _

_AN: Third chapter. Enjoy xD _

**Chapter 3: HoroHoro's Plan And How It Failed**

It's been one month since I stayed over at Ren's place. I can honestly say that I have officially befriended him. Well, maybe not officially, but we're friends- I think. How it happened? No idea. Maybe it was somewhere in the beginning, when we slept in his king-sized bed or something. Yoh seems to be on good terms with the guy, but he's on good terms with practically everybody, so that's not really a surprise. Manta seems a bit scared of him though- I can't blame him for it. After all, he's just a small boy and Ren is a scary Chinese guy.

Well, in those two weeks, Ren and I decided to rehearse daily even though we didn't really need it. We practised for about thirty minutes and after that, we'd grab something to eat or go to the movies or simply stay at hime. Too bad for me, we almost always rehearsed at my place and Pirika disturbed us every five minutes, using the lamest excuses humanly possible. After a while, she even stopped using excuses.

I also locked the door so she couldn't get into my room. Ren was very thankful for that.

I guess I'm the only one Ren really opened up to- out of our group. And maybe just out of the whole world. I still am kind of proud of myself for that, and, to be honest, I like it. That I'm the only one whom he trusts, even if it's only a little bit.

"Alright class, let's get started!" Silva says cheerfully. I groan- how can anyone be that happy _all the time_? Even Silva must have his problems once in a while. I mean, even I'm not like that! And people call me 'the cheerfulness himself'. Anyway, Silva must be crazy or something. But I had already concluded that after I had my first lesson from him. "Well, let's see," he's rummaging through a big box and pulls out a light blue dress triumphantly. Oh no… he can't be serious, can he? "I already have all your costumes, so I thought it would be fun to already try them on! So, if you would all step into the dressing rooms and get changed, we can begin." Ren snickers next to me. Bastard.

"I am NOT going to wear a dress when it isn't needed!" I yell at the top of my lungs. I have a strange feeling Silva saw this coming.

"You are going to wear it, because I'm the teacher and I say so! So there," he retorts and sticks his tongue out. This guy is really a teacher? Man, if he can be a teacher, I could've been one six ears ago.

Thirty minutes later I find myself standing on stage with a light blue dress on, no headband on my head. My hair falls to my shoulders and the girls persuaded me to let them put some make-up on me (for the record: I do NOT enjoy this!). And, just to let you know: I'm one hot chick. I'd fall for myself if I didn't know I was… me. Yeah.

Ren's standing in front of me, not the least bit interested in my dramatic change. Bastard. He doesn't even say anything! He just smirks as he starts reciting his lines. I respond with my lines, grumbling a bit as he takes my hand and guides me, as Romeo does in the play. The whole auditorium is watching us and I feel kind of self-conscious about this whole ordeal. Man, why do they have to stare like that? I mean, I usually like being the centre of attention, but not when I'm wearing a damn dress.

I trip several times over the dress- it's just a little bit too long and it's unbelievably annoying to walk while wearing it. I trip once again and this time, I knew I would really fall- I prepare myself for the fall, hands to the front to at least soften the fall, but it never comes. I open my eyes and look at Ren, who has apparently caught me and I find myself in his arms. Yes, in his arms. Now, why does my heart beat so fast?

"Idiot! Can't you even walk properly?" he says, glaring at me. I grin at him playfully, trying to get myself out of this mess.

"Aw Rennie-chan, so you do care about me! I'm so flattered," Ren still glares at me, before he let's me go, making me fall on the ground anyway. Bastard.

"I told you never to call me that," he growls and turns away from me, leaving me, Usui Horokeu, in a dress blushing like a mad man. Silva coughs and I look at him.

"Well, I suppose you can go change clothes, Horo," he says. Wow. How nice of him.

--

"Hey, you're Horo, right?" I look up and see a guy standing in front of me. I think he's in my class, though I can't be sure- I never really pay attention and I don't know half of my classmates. He must be in that half. The guy has brown hair, tied up in a short ponytail, blue eyes full of happiness, unlike Ren's piercing gaze. I like that gaze- it makes you wanna- Wow, stop right there. Back to the guy in front of me. He's slightly taller than I am, and pretty muscular. He's wearing a costume as well, some weird… purple-thingie. Whatever they wore back then. So, with my all-knowing mind, I conclude that he is in the play as well. "I play Paris and I thought that we could rehearse together sometime." He flashes me a smile before adding, "I'm Ueki by the way."

"Sure, Ueki," I grin back at him. Do I know this guy? I don't think so. Well, it's not like I knew Ren either, when I went to his house.

"Horo," I look behind me and see Ren standing there, hands placed on his hips, giving an unclear look at me, before glaring at Ueki. "Are you coming? We have to _rehearse_," he emphasizes the word, while still glaring at Ueki. I look back at the brunette and I see that _he's _glaring back at Ren. What the hell? Too much glaring for my taste. Ren walks up to me and grabs me by the collar of my shirt.

"Bye, Ueki!" I yell at him, while Ren's literally dragging me away. He really has issues, involving dragging people around (and when I say people, I mean me).

"Don't talk to him anymore," he says as he stops dragging me, once we're outside of the auditorium. He's looking at me sternly. What! Since when can he tell me what to do?

"I talk to whoever I want to talk to," I retort. His eye twitches and he crosses his arms which is making me nervous. "He seems like a nice guy! Why can't I talk to him?"

"Because I don't like him."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't." I throw my hands in the air.

"You know what? Fine! I don't care- if you don't want me to talk to him, I won't! I swear Ren, sometimes I just want to-" I make some gestures with my hands to make a point and he just smirks, before petting me on my head.

"Good boy," he says, walking off towards his house. "Come on, we need to watch The Green Mile. Are you staying over tonight?" Again, I raise an eyebrow.

"Do I have a choice?"

"No."

"Thought so."

--

"Hey Ren?"

"Yes, Horo?"

"Why did you accept the part of Romeo? You don't strike me as the guy who would give up that easily," I ask him, as we lie in Ren's bed together. I can't sleep, so I start to wonder about things. Those things, oddly enough, mainly involve Ren.

"Because I thought that maybe father would think I've had enough of the Japanese culture stamped into my head if I would be social with the other people in my class and take me back to China."

"Why? You don't like it here?" I feel kind of hurt- I mean, I'm not that bad, am I? Me and Ren are having fun, right?

"I do now. I didn't at that moment," he replies honestly. Ren's always dead honest about things and that can sometimes be good and it can sometimes be bad. Mostly bad, because honest people are the people who are most likely going to get hurt.

"So, why not quit the play then?" I ask him. I can vaguely see him smirk in the dark as he replies.

"Because I like seeing you in a dress."

"What! Gha, honestly, you're even weirder than Yoh is," I reply. He snorts.

"Don't compare me to that lazy bum."

"Hey! Don't call my best friend a lazy bum!" … Woops. Wrong words. Seconds later, I get pushed out of his bed and lie on the floor, I somewhere hit my head in the process. I blink at him and he jumps of the bed, standing in front of me, and turns on the light.

"He's your best friend?" he asks me. I'm afraid to answer and frankly, I don't even know myself. The words just slipped out of my mouth, because Yoh and I have been friends for a long time now, best friends even. Well, of course, him and Manta were best friends too and I was kind of jealous of their relationship, but still, he was and is very important to me. Same goes for Manta.

As for Ren… I don't know about him. We've been friends for a month now and, even though we're as different as the sun and the moon, we still have fun together- we trust each other, we can laugh together (though he usually laughs _at _me), but are we best friends? I don't feel the same way around him as when I'm with Yoh.

I feel something warm dripping down my cheek- it's blood. Must've been from the fall. Ren's eyes widen and he immediately goes out of the room. He returns about thirty seconds later with bandages and a wet towel; he uses the towel to wipe the blood off my cheek and head and immediately bandages it.

Light fingertips gently wrap the bandages around my head. I can hear the soft beating of his heart as he briefly leans over me to cover the back of my head and I feel his soft breath in my neck, sending shivers over my spine. As he smiles- a real, true smile- gently at me, his eyes never leaving mine, I realise something, something I would have never expected.

I was attracted to Tao Ren.

--

It's been one week since my great epiphany and I've given it a lot of though. Seeing Ren just increases my feelings.

Okay. So I have feelings for the guy. Big deal. It was probably just a stupid little crush anyway. Besides, how could I, Usui Horokeu, self-proclaimed Babe Magnet, could ever fall for a guy like him? He was annoying, demanding, arrogant… and somehow, very nice and caring and handsome.

… I really am hopeless.

Damnit, I guess I really have to come to terms with my feelings. I mean, why should I deprive myself of something I want, anyway? So what if I like a guy? He is kind of girly! Look at his wardrobe: it's _huge_!

Anyway, so, let's get things straight here: First, I hate his guts. Next thing I know, I spend every second with him and then, I fall for him. Or maybe I fell for him immediately- no idea. That might be a possibility too.

So, what do I do next? Damn, I wish I had someone to talk to, when it comes to things like this. Yoh surely isn't an option; he'd go with the 'just-be-honest-and-tell-him-your-feelings-method', which would definitely not work. I mean, I think Ren must be asexual or something. At least, he doesn't seem to be interested in anybody at all. And I certainly can't ask Pirika. Why, you ask? Well, first of all, she has an enormous crush on him. Secondly, she's my little sister. It's practically a law of nature that you don't talk to your siblings about stuff like this.

And I don't really have anybody else to really talk to, besides Ren. Which is pretty ironic.

To get back to the question at hand: what do I do? Well, maybe what I do with every girl I like… absolutely nothing, because most girls hate me. Just forget that. Maybe I should find out how he feels? I can do that. I can be sneaky enough so he wouldn't know, but the question is; how do I find out? When I was talking to Ueki the other day, he did seem kind of jealous- plus, he doesn't want me to talk to him anymore. Which is perfect, because I am going to talk to him; just to figure out if Ren gets jealous or not.

Or maybe I should just forget about it and try to get rid of this crush.

I shake my head. Why do I have such a problem with this anyway? Is it only because he's a guy? Wasn't I the one who told Ren that it doesn't matter if someone's gender is the same, as long as you love him or her?

I'm not a homophobe or anything, but I guess it's different when you find out that you like a guy yourself. I mean, what will people say? What will Manta or Ryu say? Or Anna? Or Pirika? Then again, if they are my friends, they should accept me, right?

Okay, let's just think about this; do I need Ren? Do I love him? Sure, if I don't see him a day, I miss him. Even if it's only a couple of hours, I still miss him. I think about him when he's not around and when he is around, he's the only thing I pay attention too. I can't even watch movies normally! I still look at him from the corner of my eyes and the movie just passes me by. Is that love?

I certainly don't want him to get a girlfriend or… boyfriend. I like touching him; swinging my arm around his shoulders, or pinching his cheeks just to tease him. Occasionally grabbing his hand to show him something or just giving him a simple hug- I like it all. And sometimes, I find myself thinking how it would be to kiss him- especially on one of those 'kiss-moments', you know, when you both look at each other in silence.

I want to protect him from anything- that's why I spend so much time at his place. I don't want his father beating him and I'm sure that, if I would ever notice if his father had done anything to Ren, I'd kill Tao En. And that's not a bluff- I'd really do it.

Maybe I do love him.

Wait. Not maybe. I think I do love him.

I grab a piece of paper and write the following:

_Operation Ren:_

_Get Ren jealous_

_Try to figure out his feelings_

_In case he likes me (which I'm sure he does, because I am very dashing), try to make him say it. _

_In case he doesn't like me (which is not a possibility, but I'll write it down anyway), flirt with him. _

_If 'making him say it' doesn't work, flirt with him like your life depends on it. _

I stop. Flirting with Ren? That would be like a death wish… Ah well.

_Ask him out? _

_If that doesn't work, just grope him or something. _

Okay, so I'm not good at making plans- damnit. But still. I think I'll go along with this; I need to have some kind of plan.

"Horo! Get over here, it's Ren!" Pirika yells from the living room. I jump up and quickly put away the note, when I hear Pirika say to him, "Aw, why do you always come for Horo? We could go out sometime, you know!" I grin- he's never going to do that anyway. Too bad for her, but he doesn't even like her that much.

"No, thank you," he replies politely. About two weeks ago, I asked him to at least put her down gently. She is my sister, after all, and I don't want her heart to break just because Tao Ren hasn't learned any manners from his father. "Could you let me through? I'd like to see Horo." Ah, the wonders of manners. I feel so proud of myself; I think I'd make a good dad.

"Hey Ren," I greet him as I open the door to my room. Ren nods and enters it.

"Are you ready to study? I hope you've found your English book," he says, narrowing his eyes at me.

"Yeah, yeah," I pull out my English book triumphantly and he just rolls his eyes at me. "Oh, by the way," I add. Operation Ren has begun! "I'm going over to Ueki's next week, so I can't rehearse with you." Silence. He glares at me and I see my life flashing before my eyes.

"I thought I told you not to talk to him anymore," he says.

"Well, yeah, but I have scenes with him as well because he plays Paris, so I need to rehearse with him," I reply casually. His face is heating up- wonderful. This is going perfect.

"Fine," he grinds out.

"Good," I swing an arm around his shoulder, while grinning happily at him. Do my eyes deceive me, or is that a small blush on his cheeks? "Then, let's start!" Ren nods, before getting out his script. I see him smirking- uh oh. This can't be good.

"I thought we'd practise the ending scene today," he says. "With everything in it," he adds. I quickly go to the last scene and- oh crap. It's a kissing scene. Well, it's not that bad, really, but, I'm nervous now. He just smirks at me triumphantly. Horo: 0 Ren: 1. I guess my plan to make him jealous, didn't succeed. "Let's start when Romeo drinks the poison." I nod nervously and lie down on my bed, closing my eyes. " O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die." Is it my heart that's beating so fast? I still haven't opened my eyes and I feel his breath on my lips, before I feel his soft, moist lips pressing on mine briefly. I know at this point, that I want more of that. I hear a thud and this is my cue to wake up. Of course, we don't have the Friar right now, nor do we have Balthasar, so we'll just have to do without them right now.

" What's here? a cup, closed in my true love's hand? Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end: O churl! drunk all, and left no friendly drop to help me after? I will kiss thy lips; Haply some poison yet doth hang on them, to make die with a restorative." I bend over Ren, whose lying beneath me with his eyes closed- damn, it feels as if my heart is pounding in my throat. I bend down and keep getting closer to his lips- I press mine to his, but don't kiss him as brief as he had done. My lips linger on his and he doesn't appear to mind it, but, I still don't know how he feels… So, I withdraw and continue with the rehearsal. "Thy lips are warm," I whisper. "Yea, noise? Then I'll be brief. O happy dagger!" I pretend to grab a dagger. "This is thy sheath," I stab myself (or, I pretend to stab myself) and fall on top of Ren's body. "There rust, and let me die."

And it's over. Probably one of the best things I've ever done in my life.

"That was good," Ren says and sits up straight, pushing me off his chest.

"Convincing enough for ya?" I ask him, grinning. He seems to be slightly flushed.

"Quite, but not good enough. Your words were unclear- we need to rehearse some more," he coughs slightly. My inner-chibi jumps up and down, holding a victory sign. He wants to do it again! Go me! "And by the way," he adds. "I'll be accompanying you when you go to Ueki." I blink.

"What? I thought you didn't like him!"

"I don't, but I need to rehearse with him as well." He smirks slightly. "Besides, someone needs to keep an eye on you."

"I can take care of myself perfectly!" I huff, making him grin.

"No, you can't."

"Yes I can!" I think about a retort briefly and grin. "You sound like a mother when you're this overprotective by the way," I know how he hates it to be compared to a woman, it'll make him speechless. He looks at me, a calculating look on his face, before he walks towards me and leans over me, his lips very close to my ear.

"If I'm not mistaken," he whispers. "You're the one who has to wear the dress."

Okay, so he's not the one whose speechless. I turn around, holding my heart that's pounding more than it should be able to. Who is chasing who anyway? My plans are clearly failing. Damn that Ren, always one step ahead of me. Well, no more! I, Usui Horokeu, shall now make sure I am making _him _blush! Oh yeah!

"But," I almost purr at him, "I believe it would suit you better." Horo: 1, Ren: 1. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a tie! And yes, he's blushing slightly. And a slightly blushing Ren, means that a normal person would be as red as a tomato. He coughs, before making eye-contact with me- a serious look on his face.

"I have to leave tomorrow," he says. I blink- he's leaving? "It's only for a week or so. I'm going to see some relatives in China," he stops and looks away, a faint hint of pink on his cheeks. It might be because of embarrassment. "I… was wondering, since we have vacation anyway, if you would come with me. We could rehearse and-" I don't hesitate one moment.

"Sure!" I say enthusiastically. Anything to make sure his family won't hurt him. I'm glad he asked me to come with him as well, because I could have a lot of alone time with him now. It's perfect. Ren's face lights up immediately.

"Good," he replies, almost happily. I can see the relief on his face clearly. "We'll leave tomorrow morning by plane."

"Plane?" I blush slightly.

"Yes. Is that a problem?"

"Well, I- I don't exactly have any money for that." Ren rolls his eyes at me.

"Haven't I told you? We own the plane. You don't have to pay anything." He owns his own plane? … I'm never going to let this guy go. Ever. Before I know it, I glomp him happily. He tenses slightly, but after a second or two, he relaxes and returns the embrace. This is the second hug I get from him and this one feels much better, oddly enough. "It's very easy to make you happy, isn't it?" he murmurs into my shoulder. I grin.

"Only for you," I reply and let him go, reluctantly. I notice he blushes again- Oh yeah!


	4. Tickle Doom

_Disclaimer: Don't own it. Alas._

_AN: Chapter 4. _

_I have no idea if this fic is good and IC or not. I tried to keep them IC as much as possible and I'm getting Ren to loosen up a bit in this chapter. He's just so adorable –glomps him-. _

_Anyway, enjoy it :3_

**Chapter 4: Tickle Doom**

The next morning I wake up with a huge grin spread across my face. Nothing could ruin this day for me: I am going to China with Ren. Is it humanly possible to be this happy? Oh, and before I forget- I need to call Ueki to say I can't make it on Monday. Too bad for him, but nyah. I don't really care at the moment. I'm way too excited about the trip- not only am I going to see a foreign country, I'm also going with… my crush? I almost want to say 'with the man I love', but am I really that sure if this is love?

I know I like him. A lot.

Man, how can you tell if you're honestly in love? I don't want to hurt the guy- what if I suddenly realise I'm not really in love with him and just wanted to 'experiment'? Then again, I really am not that kind of guy at all… Shit, this is hard.

Think later, pack now. Yeah, that was the best method, though when I think, I usually tend to think only about Ren.

… I love him.

I don't know why, but somehow, my heart says it. I love him. I need him. Lately, my life only exists around him- like the Earth needs the Sun, I need him. I couldn't imagine my life without him anymore. It would just be as empty as it had been; even though I have Yoh, Manta, Pirika, Ryu and even Anna, I still felt lonely. Until Ren showed up.

When did I become such a girl?

Wait. Don't answer that. I know what you're thinking. '_Since you're playing Juliet_'. Well, screw that!

And just remembering the time he has laughed when he was with me and the way he looks at me and the way I feel at those moments- I guess those memories make me feel like I truly love the guy. Almost every memory I have of him, make me feel warm inside and make me feel as if my life just revolves around him. Like he's a part of me.

Anyway, enough of these sappy things.

I grab my blue bag ( I almost have anything either blue or white) and walk out of my room, ready to say goodbye to Pirika. We haven't been apart ever since Mother and Father died (or at least, not this long apart) , so I am slightly worried about her- even though she's the one who usually takes care of me. She's responsible enough to stay alone, I know that, but still, I worry about her.

"Bye nee-san," she says, tears ready to stream down her face. "Write me!" I smile reassuringly at her and give her a quick hug.

"Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it," I say, grinning at her. "Besides, now you can invite all your friends over! Don't throw a party though, you know I want to be there when you do!" Pirika smiles.

"So you can make sure I'm alright?"

"No, stupid! So I can pick up girls!" I tease her. She smacks me on top of my head but laughs along, despite her tears. "Bye, Shorty," I continue and ruffle her blue hair, before walking off towards the- get ready for this- limousine that Ren sent to pick me up. Pirika waves at me, until the limousine is around the corner.

--

"Wow, Ren!" I say happily and innocently; I feel like a child on Christmas day or… Well, I feel like me on Christmas day, but still- this is wonderful! I've never been on an airplane before and the view is fantastic, even though the only thing I can see are the clouds and the ocean beneath us. Ren just rolls his eyes at me, but seems to be amused by my childish antics.

One hour later, I was bored. And when I'm bored, I'm quite dangerous.

One of Ren's servants who came along on the trip is asleep in one of the six chairs (there was also a couch and that was where Ren and I are sitting) and I grab a permanent marker out of my bag to doodle on his face. Jun, who is sitting on the other side of the plane, looks at me amusedly, before she returns to listening to her music.

"Horo," Ren warns me, but I don't listen to him. I chuckle as I draw a moustache and a matching beard on his face and, after ten seconds of this, Ren actually joins me. "Quick, give him big eyelashes!" he chuckles and I happily oblige- I've never seen Ren like this. He's usually the boring person out of us two and he never joins me in one of my pranks, no matter how good they are. I'm happy that he finally does and I'm happy that laughs again- I like his laugh.

"Yes, sir," I say quietly, so we won't wake him up. "Let's see," I finally stop to look at his face and snicker- his lips are now humongous and he has a moustache and beard. His eyebrows are now the size of caterpillars (Ren: "It looks as though they could crawl around his face any second.") and his eyelashes are extended (hey, who needs make-up when you've got permanent markers?). "I feel like something's missing," I finally say, not entirely happy with the result. Ren nods next to me.

"Indeed. Perhaps some glasses?" I grin at him.

"Why, Ren, what a marvellous idea!" He pokes me in the ribs and chuckles. I draw incredibly thick glasses around his eyes and am finally satisfied.

"Horo, I had no idea you were such a talented artist," Ren jokes. I swing an arm around him and grin.

"As long as I have my muse," I say to him and I can see him blush again. I briefly glance over to Jun, who is looking at us again with a weird and calculating look on her face. I look back at Ren and take his arm to guide him back to the comfortable couch in the middle of the plane. The rest of the trip, we just talk. Or rather, I talk and Ren listens.

--

We arrive in China, where another limousine is waiting for us and another, slightly smaller car for the servants. Ren says that this particular limousine belongs to his grandfather and that we have another two hours of travelling ahead of us; I don't really mind, I like the company and Ren and I are always sitting closely together. Apparently, he doesn't mind contact that much, not when it's with me. I don't mind it either, the simple touches; our arms brushing against each other, or him grabbing my hand to drag me along, or me standing next to him and occasionally tap him on the shoulder to ask him something. I like everything and yet I want more.

After about half an hour, the limousine stops at a gas station and Ren goes briefly inside to buy something. I decide to remain outside and stretch my legs a bit- travelling isn't really my thing. To my amazement, Jun comes over to talk to me. I've always liked her- she seems to be very kind, but I've never really talked to her. I greet her cheerfully, but she doesn't return it. Instead, she crosses her arms and looks at me intently.

"What are you to my brother?" She asks bluntly. I blink. "Or rather, what does my brother mean to you?" I blink again and give her a confused look. She sighs. "Listen, I really love my little brother and you're the first person he trusts this much. I just want to know right away."

"He's…" I start and think about it. I'll answer her question truthfully; he's the one I talk to most, the one I hang out with. The one I trust most of all my friends. "He's my best friend," I finally say. And more than that, of course, but I don't think his sister will appreciate it if I told her that I, a boy, feel attracted to her little brother and that I love him. Jun nods and I grin at her happily.

I am kind of glad she asks me this- it means she really does care about him, even though Ren might fail to notice this. I knew, of course, that she does care, just by the way she interacts with him. It's different than his other family members do and I'm glad that Ren has had at least someone to protect him.

"You're sure he's only your best friend?" she asks me. Why did Ren have to have such an observant sister?

"What else could he be?" I retort. How the hell am I supposed to talk my way out of this? And then there comes my answer; before Jun could even reply, Ren walks out of the store and walks towards us.

"I've brought you something to drink," he says to me and hands me a can of soda. "And I brought you bananas." My face falls.

"Aw Ren, you know I hate bananas!"

"You hate everything that's healthy for you. Eat them," he says sternly. God, he really does sound like a mother. I look at Jun from the corner of my eyes and she seems amused by the way we act around each other. "I'm going to put these in the car," he says and I want to follow him, but Jun stops me, a gentle smile plastered on her face.

"Listen," she says softly. "I don't care whether you're a guy or not; as long as you make him happy. He deserves it."

"Wha- No- I mean- It's not-" I stammer, but I seem to have lost my voice as she pats me on the head. "It's not like that!" I finally exclaim, throwing my hands up in the air. Several other people (Chinese, so they probably couldn't even understand it, but I guess I am kind of loud) look up at us, but quickly continue as Jun sends them a glare. Never underestimate the powers of a Tao Death Glare.

"I've seen you two, there's definitely something going on here that has surpassed friendship," she continues. "Are you two together or not?" I shake my head and she smiles. "Like I said; I don't care, as long as he's happy. Just be careful around our parents and grandfather with this." I nod mutely, still in shock that she's entirely okay with me being in love with her little brother. "Oh, before I forget," she adds, this time looking serious. "If you ever hurt him, I'll cut off your balls and feed them to our tiger. Got that?" … Wow. Definitely a Tao. Again, I nod and her glare turns into a smile as if she hadn't threatened to cut off my manhood mere seconds ago.

I walk back to the car and sit next to Ren. Jun apparently decided to sit next to the chauffeur, so we are both alone. In a limousine. With very, very nice and soft seats. Even though there is a lot of space, we sit closely together.

"Did you have a nice talk with Jun?" he suddenly asks me. I pale immediately.

"No- wha- Why are you asking?" I stammer again, nervously. What if he heard what we were talking about? I'd die!

"Just because. She seems to like you," he points out. I sigh out of relief. "Was it about me?" he asks suddenly, looking up at me with his golden eyes. I pause to take in that look and face; he's beautiful. It sounds so… different to be saying that about a guy, but I can't help it- he is. I nod.

"Yup."

"What did you two say about me?"

"She asks me what you are to me," I answer truthfully. It's better to just tell him honestly than to hide it from him; after all, the first part of the conversation wasn't that bad.

"What did you say?" he asks me. I grin at him and grab his hand briefly. He flushes slightly, but doesn't pull his hand away.

"That you're my best friend," I reply, smiling at him. Ren's eyes widen and, before I know it, he pulls his hand away from mine and flicks me on the head. "Ow! What was that for?"

"I just felt like it," he says, crossing his arms.

"You know, you don't hit your best friends!" I huff, throwing my nose in the air and he smirks.

"I see Yoh and you hit each other all the time," he replies. I grin at him briefly, before I push him down on the seat and pin him underneath me triumphantly and hold his wrists so he can't push me away. He's writhing underneath me and I look at his flushed face, his lips parted slightly and- crap. I see the rather… compromising position we're in. "Horo, get off of me!" he hisses and I happily oblige. Any more of that writhing and it would've caused an unfortunate reaction in my lower regions… I really need to start thinking about what I can and can't do to him.

"Sorry," I say sheepishly to him and I notice he's still blushing heavily as he sits up straight, fumbling with his clothes a bit to make them look as neat as they did before I attacked him.

--

His grandfather was a cheerful old man, I can give him that. Yet, there was still something creepy about him. Same went for all of his other family members, they seemed nice, but they had this creepyness surrounding them, with the exception of Jun.

"So, Horo, where are you from, exactly?" his grandfather asks me during dinner, trying to keep the conversation going. Remember how I said that Ren's mansion in Japan was the biggest house I had ever seen? Well, this surpasses that one. It was huge and only one person lived there- along with his servants, of course. But still, it was a big house.

"Hokkaido," I answer. "But I now live in Tokyo."

"Ah, with your parents?"

"No, with my little sister. My parents are dead," I answer truthfully, eating.

"I'm sorry to hear that," the old man says, but he doesn't sound very sorry for me. I don't really care though. "I suppose your parents left you quite a bit of money then?" I wince.

"No," I reply. "My parents didn't have a lot of money. They made just enough money to make our lives comfortable, but there wasn't a lot of money left after they died. They didn't really care about money and neither do I," I continue, looking intently at the older man who has his hands folded on the table. From the corner of my eye, I can see Ren looking murderously at his grandfather, but I quickly look back at the older man.

"You don't now? Well, if I had a rich friend and I was rather… unfortunate, like you are, I would take advantage of it," his grandfather says. What! How dare he? I'll make him pay for that, or my name is Queen Victoria!

"Well, that certainly says something about you, sir," I answer calmly. The man looks at me intently, but doesn't move. "Although I appreciate your concern for your grandson, I can assure you that I don't care about his money. I'm Ren's friend, because he's a good and nice guy and we have fun. I hang out at his place, he hangs out at mine- I'd rather die than lower myself to a greedy bastard," I continue honestly. I have to refrain myself from saying too much about Ren- I don't want anyone else to find out. "My parents always taught me that money doesn't matter in the long run; money won't keep you happy and I'll always remember that lesson." I add and it seems as though his grandfather looks satisfied and turns to Ren.

"I like him," he declares and slaps Ren on the back. I blink and look at Ren questioningly.

"What just happened?" I ask him. Ren just shrugs.

"Although I don't approve, grandfather always likes to 'test' people. I don't bring a lot of people home with me, but when I do, he always tests them to see if they're only here for my money. Apparently, he thinks you're honest."

"You know I don't give a rat's ass- pardon my French, sir- about your money!" I protest, looking at Ren. Again, he shrugs.

"I know that. I never believed you were, seeing as though we couldn't quite get along in the beginning," we both grin at the memory of us continuously bickering (which we still do, but not a lot). "And, given your personality, I already knew you didn't care about money. But my grandfather didn't, although I tried to make it clear to him over the phone. He doesn't listen to anybody."

"So that's where you get it from!" I point at him, pretending to be surprised. His grandfather barks a laugh and he just looks at me as if he had just swallowed a lemon. I laugh too and Jun chuckles. Ren gives her a glare as well, but it doesn't seem to have any effect on her.

Dinner went on like this for quite some time, before Ren finally grabs my hand and starts pulling me up the stairs. I quickly wave goodbye to Jun and the old man, before hurrying after the purple-haired boy.

God, why does their house have to be so gigantic? I swear, if Ren and I ever get together, we are going to live in a simple apartment, where I can't get lost.

--

"So, what are we going to do today?" I ask him, flopping down on the king size bed in the room. Apparently, this was Ren's room before he moved to Japan, and it's practically the same as the other one. I like Ren's rooms. Why do I always feel so at home with Ren? Well, maybe because I feel like we really belong with each other- even though we might be the exact opposite of each other.

"I thought we could go for a ride," he replies.

"Whaaaaat?" I whine- I don't want to ride in one of his limousines again! It was so boring. "I don't wanna be in a car all day again!" Ren rolls his eyes at me.

"On horses." I blink. Horses? As in, those big things with four legs? As in, those things people ride on? With hooves and manes and… No way! I have horsephobia. I don't even like them. "What's wrong?" Ren asks, confused, as he takes off his shirt. What's wrong? The fact that you're undressing right in front of my eyes and that you look like a goddamn Sex God, that's what's wrong!

"Ren… I don't really like horses," I say. He smirks and walks towards me. I can get a better view of his muscles; not too many, thank God. I don't really like muscles that much, but he has just the right amount to make me drool.

"You're scared of them?"

"Well, I'm not so much as scared," I start. Ren, with the smirk still plastered on his face, lies down next to me on the bed. With. No. Shirt. I slap myself mentally and take my eyes off his body and focus on the poster hanging on the wall instead.

"You're just scared," he states, poking me in the ribs. "I knew it. HoroHoro is a chicken!" And before he knows it, I'm right on top of him again; compromising position, or not, he'll pay for that remark.

"Take that back, Tao Ren!" Ren just laughs as he tries to throw me off, but I hold his wrists firmly above his head.

"Chicken! Chicken!" he yells between laughs and I decide to do something else.

"Tickle Doom!" I scream at the top of my lungs and he stops briefly, looking horrified.

"No! Don't!"

"Then take it back," I say, grinning down at him.

"Never!" That's it- I let go of his wrists and start tickling him everywhere. It's perfect; I can touch his bare chest and make him pay. My inner-chibi is doing one of his victory-dances right now. "S-stop," Ren laughs. "I-I take it back!" I stop immediately and get off of him and fall back on the bed next to him, we're both still laughing. After a couple of minutes, we both stop, panting heavily.

"I haven't laughed like that in a long time," I admit- and it's true, I haven't. I laugh a lot, but never this much at a time.

"My cheeks hurt," Ren points out. I smile.

"I guess you're going to have to train those muscles too then." He smirks at me.

"I have a good coach for that, so it's not going to be a problem." I grin back. This is going to be a great week.


	5. Horses Are A Man's Best Friend

_Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King. I own this story though :3. _

_AN: Chapter 5. Thanks for the reviews xD. I really like this chapter… I like the next one better though –grins-. But you'll read that one later xD._

**Chapter 5: Horses Are A Man's Best Friend**

"Horo, stop being a baby!"

"But Ren," I whine. "I don't wanna ride a horse." I look at him, trying to pull out my puppy-eyes. He just rolls his and grabs my hand.

"Then we'll ride together." Wait. What? Together? As in, together on one horse? As in, I get to hold onto Ren when I get scared? "You go first. I'll help you get up," he continues. Ok. No big deal. It's just a horse. And Ren is with me! Everything will be alright.

… I hope.

"Ready?" Ren asks me as he places me in front of his horse. The description of said horse, you ask? It is big and white and had no saddle, only reigns. Ren apparently doesn't like riding with a saddle and it's handier for the both of us to ride on the same horse (at least, that's what he said. I have no idea). That's all you need to know. He helps me up onto the horse and soon climbs up himself. He sits behind me and I kind of feel like a damsel in distress, sitting here in front of him… his arms around me so he can take the reigns. Actually, I don't really care if I look like a girl right now- this position is awesome. I love horses. "Hold on," he mumbles and before I know it, we're riding across an open area. Ok, I don't love horses- shit, this is scary. I hold on to Ren's neck tightly and if feels as though I'm choking him, but I don't really care; he took me out for horseback riding, so he's got to take the responsibility. "Relax," he suddenly says, prying my arms off of him with one hand. "I'm not going to let you fall. Just relax and enjoy." Easy for him to say, even though I somehow feel better at his words. And maybe I should enjoy this ride- after all, I'm very close to Ren, Ren's chest, Ren's arms, Ren's face…

I really am hopeless.

After an hour of riding (it seemed like six hours), we stop at the edge of a forest and dismount. Ren ties the horse to a nearby tree and we walk into the forest. I sometimes trip over roots sticking out of the ground and always end up being caught by Ren, who looks at me with a scowl on my face and mumbling something like 'bloody idiot, has to be more careful'. I'm so touched by his concern for me.

Thirty minutes of walking later, we end up at a lake. Cherry blossom trees were surrounding it and swayed merrily along with the soft breeze. I hold my breath as I take in the sight- it was beautiful, peaceful.

"I used to come here a lot," Ren says, standing next to me. He has a gentle smile on his face as he looks at me and suddenly, I don't care at all about the scenery anymore. All I want to see is him standing in front of me with that smile. "Do you like it?" I nod mutely and slap myself mentally- I can't continue to stare at him like that, so I look back at the lake.

"I love it."

"I thought you'd love it," he mutters quietly. Is it me or is he still looking at me? "Come on," he gently grabs my hand and pulls me towards a tree, where he put down the backpack he had brought with him. "I brought some lunch, we can eat it here." God, have I mentioned how I much I love him? The feeling just keeps growing stronger. I sit down underneath the tree next to him; I have lunch, a spectacular view and the guy I love sitting next to me. How could life get any better?

We sat there for hours, talking, laughing, wrestling. When the sun begins to set, Ren stands up and I reluctantly follow him back to the horses. We both seem sad about leaving this place, but it can't be helped.

When we are about to mount, I turn to face him. "Promise me we'll go back there again," I say to him. Ren seems a bit startled, but nods. "Good," I grin at him happily and mount the horse. He follows me, sitting behind me again and suddenly gives me a hug, burying his face in my shoulders as he wraps his arms around my waist. For a moment, I freeze, startled by the sudden display of affection, but immediately throw my arms around his neck and pull him even closer. I might have surprised him as well with this; I don't know, but I do know that we are trying to get as close together as possible. Each of us are clinging to the other.

I don't know how long we sat there, but it seemed to pass by way too fast. He smells so nice, his soft, purple hair is prickling my neck and he himself stays frozen, as if he's scared that if he moves, the moment will be over- as if he'd wake up from a dream. I feel the same way and don't move. This is way passed a hug; I don't even know what it is. But it feels more than an embrace. It's as if we're both desperate for this, but we don't dare to go any further.

"I think we have to go, it'll be dark soon," Ren murmurs into my shoulder and I nod, letting his neck go reluctantly. He releases his hold on my waist and grabs the reigns.

I don't think I'll ever forget that moment between us.

--

"Had fun boys?" Tao Jun says as we enter their mansion- almost palace-like house. She's grinning at me and gives us a knowing wink. "Well, you're in time for dinner. Grandfather has an announcement to make, he says." Ren nods. We both quickly change clothes and hurry down to the dining room, where his grandfather is sitting, cheerfully. He's sitting on the head of the table, Jun on the left of him. Ren and I sit down on the right and his grandfather slaps Ren on the shoulders again.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why I've called you here," he starts, standing up from his seat. "Well, as you all know, Ren will be the head of our family when he grows up and, to support him as head of the family, he needs a wife to support him." I freeze and I feel Ren tense next to me. Was he- He couldn't! I look at Jun and she looks nervously back at me, her eyes wide and sad and shocked. "Therefore, I'm happy to announce that the Mao family is offering their daughter to marry Ren!"

It feels as though my heart just broke into a million pieces; I turn pale, a feeling of hollowness inside my stomach is spreading through my entire body. Ren is getting married. He's getting married. There's no hope. He's getting married. I stand up and force a smile on my face.

"Excuse me," I say to his grandfather. I try to keep my voice from shaking as good as I can, but it's not working very well. "I don't feel so good. I think I ate something bad." His grandfather nods cheerfully and I walk out the door, not looking at Ren. Once outside, I ran up the stairs, to the left, straight ahead and slam open the door to Ren's room. I don't bother to throw myself on the bed, but head straight for the bathroom, lock it and burst out crying. When did I become such a girl? I'm crying over a guy…

But he's getting married. I can't do anything. The man I love, is getting married.

I don't know how long I sat there, sobbing. Man, I usually am not one to give up that easy, but this is different. For the first time, I realise that I can never be with Ren. After all, he has his family, their traditions are different. Will Ren really give up his family, honour, his life up for me? Usui Horo? A poor guy from Hokkaido? He'd never do that.

For the first time, I realise that I'm way out of his league. Maybe I've always known, maybe that's why I never acted on my feelings and just kissed him or at least told him.

And yet… I don't want to give up on him. I have to call someone. I have to talk to someone, other than Ren. I have to hear someone say that it'll be alright.

I walk into the bedroom and dial Yoh's number. I quickly make sure that no one else is in the neighbourhood and hear Yoh's voice on the other end of the line.

"_Hello?" _

"Yoh, it's Horo." I'm so relieved to hear his voice.

"_Hey, Horo!"_ he says cheerfully. _"How's it going in China?"_

"It's… Listen, Yoh, I have something I need to tell you," I say. I don't want to waste any time. Ren could be back any minute, after all.

"_What is it?"_ The concern in his voice is clear and I clear my throat. This is it.

"I… I'm in love with Ren," I burst out. Silence on the other end.

"_Yes? And?" _

"You're okay with it?"

"_Of course, I don't really care. But, is that the only thing you wanted to talk about?"_ I blink once.

"No, no, it's not," I say and sigh. "I just… he's just so great! And I'm almost sure he feels the same way about me, I mean, damn! But now his grandfather… he- he just announced that he arranged a marriage for Ren. What the hell am I supposed to do Yoh?" Again, silence for a brief moment, before Yoh speaks again.

"_You love him, right?" _

"Of course! I wouldn't feel so fucking miserable right now, if I didn't," I answer, rubbing my temples. Yoh sighs.

"_If you love him, you don't give up on him. You have to fight for the things you want, Horo, and this is no exception. You can either cry and give up, or you can stand and do anything to get him." _

"But Yoh, it's not so easy, I don't think you understand- Ren's different from us, he has a different family. They wouldn't accept it if he were to be gay!" I say, trying to make it clear to Yoh. He just sighs.

"_You said you're almost certain he feels the same way? Ren doesn't strike me as the kind of person who listens to everything his family says. Love is love. His family can't do anything about that- just go for it. You won't know until you try."_ Somewhere, he has a point.

"Since when are you so good at giving advice?" I ask him, trying to sound jokingly.

"_Since you sound as if you need it,"_ he replies. I can hear his smile.

"Thanks, Yoh."

"_Anytime, Horo."_ We both say our goodbyes and hang up. Yoh's right. I need to fight, instead of crying in the bathroom like a girl.

I won't let him go. Ever. Not until he tells me specifically that he does not love me.

Five minutes later, the door to his room opens and Ren steps in, very shy, as if he's scared to face me. And maybe he is. I'm lying on the bed and I turn my head towards him.

"Horo?" he asks. "Are you alright?" he walks towards the bed and reaches out for my arm, to touch me. I let him.

"I'm alright. How did dinner go?" I ask him, forcing a smile on my face. Without thinking about it, I grab Ren's arm and pull him on the bed next to me. His head is lying on my chest and… God, this is comfortable. Ren must feel the same way, since he doesn't move.

"Could've been better. Grandfather kept talking about… about her," Ren answers. A pain shoots through my heart, but I don't say anything and keep listening. "How rich her family is and that she would bring honour to ours." I hold him closer. "I don't want to marry," he finally states, clutching my shirt with his hands.

"Then don't," I say.

"But it's for my family. I must," he retorts. I feel him trembling.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to," I say to him. "It's your life too!" I suddenly burst out. "You don't have to be miserable, just for money and honour! There are other things that are important too, you know. I don't want to see you unhappy," I add, pulling the slightly younger boy closer to me. He raises his head and looks at me, calculating, and nods. He lies his head on my chest again and his grip on my shirt tightens.

"Then, what is important?" he asks me softly. I hesitate.

"Love, friendship, trust," I reply. "A relationship is based on that and those are the things that matter more than anything else in this world. At least, that's what I think. Honour and money can't make you happy." He raises his head again and crawls a bit up- he lies down again, this time his head buried in my neck. I hold him close and, without thinking it through, I kiss his forehead.

I actually kiss his forehead!

For a couple of heavenly seconds, I thought he hadn't noticed, but after those, he suddenly raises his head and turns to me, eyes widened.

"I- I- I- I," I stammer. Crap! How the hell do I get myself out of this one? His eyes soften slightly and he kisses my cheek back, making me blush.

"Thanks," he sighs, as he lies back down again. I blink. "I'm not getting married," he then says firmly. "I don't want to." I nod. "Will you be with me when I tell grandfather? I can't do it alone." I pull him completely on top of my body.

"Of course," I reply. He sighs contently and wraps his arms around my neck.

I won't let him go.

--

We wake up like that the day afterwards. Things are a bit awkward and we're both red, but we don't speak about it anymore. When we go down for breakfast, Ren fumbles nervously with his shirt. I grab his hand and give him a reassuring smile.

"If you don't want to-"

"No, I need to tell my grandfather that I don't want to get married to her," Ren states firmly, a serious look crossing his eyes. "Just… stay with me while I do that." I nod and feel touched; I feel needed by him and my heart skips a beat because of it. I know I'd do anything for Ren. I let go of his hand and we both walk in. I can see his grandfather sitting at the head of the table again, smiling at his grandson and me.

"Ah, good morning Ren, Horo," he says friendly. I don't have anything against the old man, but I keep looking serious at him and so does Ren.

"Grandfather, there is something I need to talk to you about," Ren says. His grandfather's friendly face turns into a blank one and he looks intently at us. "I have decided that I don't want to get married." I have the urge to grab his hand, since his voice is shaking heavily, but I fight that urge and just stand still by his side, our arms brushing against each other. His grandfather folded his hands.

"And what is the reason for this?" he asks him.

"I want to be with the one I love, not the one you picked out for me. I won't marry someone I don't love, nor someone whom I've never even met," Ren answers and I blink at his answer; the one he loves? Does that mean he already loves someone? I seem to be the only one who heard that, because no one paid attention to that or it is just being ignored. That might be a possibility too.

"So you don't care about your families' honour? Is that what you're saying?" I feel my blood boil, but I try to remain calm.

"No, it's not. I care about my families' honour, but I also care about myself. I don't think I can live," he pauses briefly and he looks at me from the corner of his eyes. I swallow. "I can't live with someone I don't love," he finally states. Damn. For a moment, I thought he was going to say something entirely different.

"I will discuss this matter with your father. Understand, however, that he might throw you out, because of this," his grandfather replied, thoughtfully. "Personally, I think that this decision is entirely up to you, but your father is a traditional man. I don't think he will stand for this. Just, keep that in mind." Ren nods solemnly.

"I will. Thank you, grandfather," he answers. Immediately, his grandfather looks more cheerful.

"Well then, let's eat! I'm starving," he says and Ren and I both sweatdrop. To think that this man was actually Tao En's father… it was odd. Very odd. Breakfast wasn't so bad after that; Jun and her grandfather were discussing things I don't really care about and Ren and I were occasionally talking to each other. Ren brushed hand sometimes against mine or my leg and every time he did so, I couldn't help but shiver.

After breakfast, we go upstairs again. Ren and I decide that we want to watch movies today. Well, I decide that, to help him keep his mind off of his decision and his father. I feel scared for him.

For the time being, all I can do is to be there for Ren. Give him my support; he knows I'll stay with him until this is all over and, even if he does get kicked out of his house, he can come live with me. I won't hesitate one second about that.

Upstairs, Ren fumbles with his shirt again. He's nervous- why? There is nothing he can do right now, so why be nervous?

"Horo," he starts. He turns away from me and looks out the window. "What if, what if I lose my family?" he continues. My heart immediately starts pounding in my throat and I place a hand on his shoulder. "I mean, they're all I have. What if they kick me out? What do I do then?"

"They won't kick you out," I say, reassuringly. Even though I'm not so sure about it myself. "And, even if they do, you'll still have me," I add. He turns around to face me, his golden eyes fixed on my blue ones. "You'll always have me," I continue- is this like a declaration of my love? I have no idea, the words just slip out of my mouth as I see that face. I can't keep it in any longer. Ren looks at me, his eyes widened slightly. I bring my hand to his face and cup his chin- he closes his eyes at the touch and I get closer to him, our faces only inches apart.

His breath is shallow and slow, calm. Calmer as he was before; I'm surprised that I have such an effect on him, that I make him feel safe. But I'm also glad about that. He keeps his eyes clothes and his lips are parted slightly- is it an invitation to kiss him or is he just enjoying the touch? I don't want to rush things; I mean, what if he doesn't like me… like that?

_You won't know unless you try. _

Yoh's voice says in my head. He's right. I cross the last inches and my lips met his and stay there. I move my mouth against his- I've never actually kissed anyone before, so I have no idea what I'm doing. I guess this is just one of those things you need to figure out yourself. Slowly, his lips start to move against mine and he parts them slightly; I don't hesitate and enter his mouth with my tongue and massage his. Is it possible that my heart is beating this fast?

I wrap my arms around his face without breaking the kiss and pull him closer. In return, he wraps his around my neck and clings, almost desperately, to me. We slowly reluctantly part from each other, as we still are humans and need to breathe. I still hold him in my arms though and he lies his head on my shoulder.

"Hey Ren?" I finally say.

"Yes?" I pause.

"You're shorter than me." It earns me a flick on the head.


	6. In Which There Was Sex

_Disclaimer: I still do not own it. _

_AN: Chapter 6! It's coming to an end, actually. Told you there wasn't going to be a lot of Romeo and Juliet in it xD Only one chapter left and perhaps an epilogue.._

**_WARNING: THE FIRST PART OF THIS CHAPTER IS LEMON. _**

**_If you don't like gay sex, than don't read the first part! I'll say it when it's safe for you to read! _**

_**--**_

_**Chapter 6: In Which There Was Sex**_

I grin at him and lift him up, earning a scowl from him. "I'm just gonna make us a bit more comfortable," I tell him and jump, with him still in my arms, on the bed. He lands on top of me and immediately kisses me; his hands starting to roam a bit more freely over my body. I shiver as they go underneath my shirt, but soon enjoy the touches and kisses I receive from him.

Is this what people call passion? Or is this simply love? Maybe it's both. I can't describe the feeling I get from him, as we explore each other's bodies. He removes my shirt and I pull off his, briefly interrupting our kiss. Our groins press together and I feel my body heating up as he places kisses along the line of my jaw and moves down slowly; first my neck, then my chest.

A moan escapes from my mouth and Ren chuckles, obviously pleased with the reactions he's getting.

And then suddenly, I sit up straight and stop him. I don't want this. This is too soon; I don't want to take advantage of him- even though I want to continue so much. But I know what this is leading too. Ren looks at me questioningly.

"Ren- I, this," I start, not knowing what to say.

"You don't- but I thought I read the signals," Ren mutters. "So, you don't want me?" he asks, looking sad. He climbs off of me and is about to get off the bed, but I hold his arm and pull him closer.

"It's not that," I say. "I mean, I really want you, but I think this is too soon. I've loved you for some time now and I don't want you to regret anything," I add. He looks up at me and smirks.

"Idiot. Why would I regret it? Now lie down and let me continue." I blink. Okay, so Ren was back again. The demanding bastard. The arrogant jerk.

And somehow, I don't mind that at all. Weird, huh?

Ren climbs back on top of me, but before he could plunge down for a kiss, I throw us over and this time, I'm the one on top. I grin down at him and he scowls at me- I might be the girl in the play, but here, I'm so the dominant one! Besides, I want to make him feel good too. I kiss him shortly on the mouth, before going down to his neck. In the meantime, I feel his hands going straight to my pants, which are- might I add- rather tight right now. He pulls down my pants, leaving me only in my boxers. I slowly go down, tracing kisses all over his chest and briefly stop at his nipples, sucking on each of them. A moan escapes his mouth and I feel more aroused because of that; I want to hear more of those sounds. I slowly loosen his pants too (I can feel that they are rather tight on him as well) and he moves his hips a bit, giving me a chance to take them off smoothly.

I briefly stop and look at the sight beneath me; Ren, lips parted, panting slightly and face flushed from the heat, looked back at me and smiled briefly, before pulling me down for another heated kiss. I'm nervous of taking off the rest of clothes (well, there are only boxers left), because that means we're going all the way; I'm nervous. Very. Not because I don't want to- hell, I want this a lot, but just because it's a big step. I always thought that sex wasn't a big deal, but now that I'm about to do it… it's still scary. For now, I hold my hands on his hips as we try to come closer to each other, our tongues still clashing together in a heated kiss.

"Horo," he moans my name as I go down with my lips again, kissing an obvious sensitive spot on his neck, my hands underneath him, pulling his hips and groin closer to mine. This is it. I have to do it.

Slowly, my mouth moves down; first his neck, then his chest, his abdomen and then- I stop. I look up at Ren, who is still panting softly and I wait for approval. He nods and I pull down his boxers; again, he raises his hips slightly, so they come off easily. I go up to him and kiss him on his mouth again- I feel him smirking in the kiss and before I know it, he turned us around. He grins at me mischievously and pulls off my boxers as well. I wonder vaguely what I should do now- I'm so uncertain about this. Not because I don't want it, but because I'm afraid Ren won't like it, or that I'll do something wrong. I mean, I've read about having sex with girls before, when there was this person from the hospital at our school talking about sex and handing out flyers, but she never covered intercourse with another guy.

I go to heaven the second I feel long and slender fingers wrapping around my manhood, pumping it slowly in a steady pace. I moan in pleasure and, before I know it, they are gone again. I sigh in disappointment and look up at Ren, who was still smirking. Damn. Didn't I say that I wanted to be the dominant one? He goes down and looks at my cock, carefully strokes it once, before he, to my great surprise, takes it into his mouth.

Oh god, is this heaven? I softly thrust my hips further into his mouth and my fingers lock in his hair as I already find myself on the edge of coming right there and then. I try to sit up some more so I can see Ren. His eyes are focused on my face as I pant heavily and the sight of that was just too much to handle- a lick of his tongue on the tip of my dick was enough. With a couple of thrusts and spasms and a loud moan, I came in his mouth. I see white spots all around me and I fall back on the bed, panting heavily. Not much later, Ren crawls up to me and gives me a kiss on the lips.

"Don't you-" I pant, but he silences me.

"I like pleasuring you," he says. "If you don't want to, you don't have to." I pull him into a kiss again, my arms wrapping securely around his waist and I grin at him.

"But what if I want to?" I murmur into the kiss. I feel him smirking against my lips. "You think, we can take the final step?" I ask him, hesitantly. I want to be closer to him and, though it seems very scary, the thought of having him inside of me is very appealing. Ren smirks at me.

"You think you can go again?" I narrow my eyes at him.

"Do not underestimate me, Tao Ren!" I say to him and turn us back around; I'm back on top now and I can already feel myself growing harder, seeing Ren underneath me, still flushed and panting. He must want to have some release soon too… Ren holds out three of his fingers to me and I look at him questioningly.

"Take them into your mouth," Ren murmurs and I comply. I take them in my mouth, all three of them at once, completely. After a moment, Ren pulls them out of my mouth, completely wet with my saliva.

Oh.

I finally get what he's going to do with those- it isn't just for kinkyness, I guess. He flips us around again. "Relax," he whispers, as I feel those three fingers go down. He brings one of them in and stretches me. It hurts and stings, but he stops, luckily, so I can adjust to the new feeling. After a minute or so, he brings in the second one. It doesn't hurt so much as the first one, but still stings- he moves them around a bit and finally puts in the third one. That one hurts the most and I groan. "Are you alright?" he asks me, staring at me. I nod slowly as the pain fades away. He kisses my neck and jaw and mouth, whispering words of comfort to me in his own language. Actually, I don't know what he was saying, but it felt comforting.

We stay like that for a couple of minutes, before he slowly pulls them out again. I have mixed feelings about it- it doesn't hurt so much, but it's still painful. And now… I feel something against my ass and just know that this is it. He carefully brings his dick inside my anus, now and then stopping to give me some time to adjust. Finally, he's in completely and he pulls back, only to push back in after some time.

It hurts still, but not so much as before and I find that his fingers are wrapped around my dick and pumping it in the rhythm of his movements. Somewhere along the way, he hits a certain spot that made me see stars. "Ren," I moan. "Do that again." Ren complies and hits that spot again. I moan loudly and he kisses me, clearly aroused by my sounds. "Faster," I say to him and he complies, practically pounding into me now. He moans loudly and so do I, as I can feel the familiar feeling rising. I try to hold it in, but it's no use; with one thrust, I come, spilling sperm over me and Ren. The boy in me goes out and in one last time and I feel a warm liquid filling me; Ren collapses on top of me, panting heavily.

I immediately wrap my arms around him and hold him close to me.

After about ten minutes lying like this, he finally pulls himself out of me. I feel sore and my ass hurts, but I don't care- I currently am still in heaven and I don't plan to get out of there soon.

"We should take a shower," I murmur into his hair and I feel him nod. It's true- we reek of sweat and sex, a nice combination while still having sex, but not afterwards. And a nice shower with Ren, naked and wet, sounds very tempting of course.

"Can you stand?" he asks me, helping me up.

"Yeah," I reply, standing up slowly. God, my ass hurts. He walks up to me and supports me while I walk to the bathroom, which is attached to his bedroom, thank God, since Ren's father would probably ask some questions if he saw me walking across the hallway with a bruised butt.

**_AN: It's safe now! xD_**

As we stand underneath the shower, Ren carefully caressing my chest, arms, face, I wonder; what now? Are we officially boyfriend and… boyfriend? Does he love me too? He hasn't said anything about that yet. But now that I've felt him, now that I've had sex with him… how can I live without him?

I know I can't.

"Horo? Is something wrong?" Ren asks me. I must have spaced out or something, because he looks at me, worried. I smile at him and wrap my arms around his waist.

"What's going to happen now?" I ask him. He sighs.

"I don't know," he answers truthfully.

"You know, I promised myself I wouldn't let you go." Ren snorts.

"When did you promise yourself that?"

"Last night."

"I promised myself the same thing too, you know," he suddenly says.

"What? That you wouldn't let yourself go?" It earns me a smack on my head and I laugh at him. "I'm just kidding! That's what they call abusing!" Ren just rolls his eyes at me and starts to wash his purple hair. "When did you promise that?" I ask him.

"When I saw you talking to Ueki. I knew for some time that I… liked you, but I thought it was just some stupid crush. But when I saw you with Ueki… I just got jealous, I suppose. You've become a big part of my life in a short time."

"But why is Ueki different from Yoh? I mean, I don't even know the guy," I told him.

"Yoh doesn't like you that way. Ueki does- he kept staring at you during the rehearsal and he does the same thing in class," Ren replies casually, before he squeezes some shampoo out of the bottle on my hair and starts massaging it. I enjoy the touches and pull him closer. I grin at him.

"So, you're possessive, aren't you?" Ren narrows his eyes at me, but looks amused.

"Only because you're stupid enough to not notice it when someone's flirting with you," he says dryly. I chuckle and scratch my head. "But about your question," Ren says hesitantly. "I'd- I mean, I like- I l-love you," he stammers. I smile at him; I know that must've been hard for him to say. But I'm glad he did. "I want to be with you. That's the only reason why I decided not to marry that girl. Please, just don't tell anyone yet. I-I mean," he blushes slightly. "If you feel the same way, that is." I grin at him.

"And you call me the idiot. Didn't I already say that I love you?" he smiles up at me and hugs me, kisses me, touches me.

I don't think I've ever felt any happier.

--

Our week passed by in a blur. Before I know it, I'm back in the airplane, sitting next to Ren comfortably, our hands intertwined and our legs occasionally brushing. We can do anything freely now- Jun knows anyway. Ren and I told her the same day, after I had told Ren that Jun suspected something. She hugged us both immediately and gave me another warning.

I still don't know exactly what's going to happen to us; it's difficult to know with Ren. We're still awaiting his father's answer about him not wanting to get married and we've already talked about what would happen if his father would banish him from their family. He would come and live with me and Pirika until we can afford a place of our own.

I suppose it's safe to say that we are both in love. I need him and he needs me, even though we still need to compromise on a lot of things.

Having sex with Ren sure brought out my inner pervert, by the way. I mean, I never really was one, but I sure am one now. I keep trying to hump him in public, though he won't allow it, much to my disappointment. So far, we have a pretty healthy sex life. I don't think we've left his bedroom after having sex for the first time. Well, once, when he took me back to that amazing lake- I might sound like a love struck girl right now, but it was very romantic.

We had sex there too, might I add.

And I'm not even the one who keeps starting it! I have to tell you, Ren is just as perverted as I am, if not even more so.

After landing, we both part our ways. He needs to drop by his father, because his father has his decision ready. If it is up to me, I would come with him, but he refuses to let me come with him. He says he needs to do this by himself.

"Just remember you can come to me anytime you want," I murmur in his ear, before giving him a quick kiss on his lips. He nods and returns it, before I step out of the limousine. As the car drives away, my heart is pounding loudly.

I feel scared.

--


	7. Wounds Always Heal

_Disclaimer; Don't own it. _

_AN: The final chapter! I forgot to mention in the last chapter: it was the first time ever that I wrote a lemon. I hope I did okay xD._

_I also don't write a lot of fighting scenes, so I hope I don't disappoint you with this chapter. :3_

_Enjoy!_

_--_

It's the next day and I haven't heard anything from Ren. Of course, I don't expect him to call me every hour of the day, but I still am worried sick about him. I hope to see him at school, but when I arrive at my English class; he's not there. Maybe he's just late, I keep chanting inside my head. He's late. He's just late. Nothing happened. He's just late.

He doesn't arrive at English. Nor does he arrive at any of the other classes. He's not there at lunch- he's not there for the entire day. The growing feeling of dread and fear keeps rising within me. I'm silent through everything.

At two o' clock, even though I have class until four, I stand up and run towards Ren's house. I have to know what happened- I can't stand this. Not knowing what happened, being worried about him constantly; I can't do it. I'll apologise to Ren if nothing has happened and if he's just sick, but I need to know. I mean, what if his father has killed him? Or locked him up? Or threw him out of the attic again? He could be dead! I can't… I couldn't…

What if he was dead?

What then? How am I supposed to live without him? I'd rather die myself, than live without him. I never thought I'd feel so strongly about someone else, let alone another guy, but I do. I can't ignore this.

Arriving at the Tao mansion, I knock on the door. Nobody answers. I ring the bell. Nobody answers. I knock, ring, knock again and ring once more- but nobody answers. Shit. Luckily, Ren once told me about the basement of the mansion- that the door to the side of the house was never locked and that you could enter the house through that way. If you ask me, it's not such a smart thing to do when you have a big ass house like that, but I guess there are enough guards here to keep thieves from entering.

Anyway, he told me that so I wouldn't have to face his father every time I came to visit him. I immediately run to the back of the house and enter the small hatch; the basement is completely dark, so I have to find my way in the dark. With no time to waste, I hastily hold my arms in front of me and try to find the wooden stairs leading up to the kitchen. I find them and climb up- I open the door and… the kitchen is entirely empty. Not a pot or pan, not a spoon lying on the huge counter. Even when it wasn't even near dinnertime, there would still be a cook busy in the kitchen, or pans lying on the counter. This isn't right.

I walk through the door to the living room and again, there is nothing. Not a couch, not a chair. Everything is empty. I panic- they're gone! Ren's gone. Ren's gone. His father took him, against his will, I know it. I know it. Against his will, I keep saying over and over again in my mind. I pant heavily- maybe it's because I'm panicking or perhaps it's from the running, or maybe because of both.

I hear something coming from the hallway, someone's walking down the stairs. It could be Ren. I immediately run through the other door. It's Ren, it has to be. It's Ren, it's Ren, it's Ren. I face the staircase, but what I see is not Ren: it's his father.

"What have you done to him?" I say, immediately, almost yelling it. His father just gives me a creepy smile. "Tell me! Where is he?"

"You mean the little faggot?" I feel my blood boiling.

"Do not call him that," I grind out, through gritted teeth. His father just laughs at me. "Where is he!"

"He's in the Cell. He's been in there for twenty hours," his father replies. The Cell? Ren told me about that once- it's a small box where he was put in when he was smaller, but not much longer than only one hour, because the space is so small, has only one small hole for air and doesn't have any light in it. He also told me he was scared to death for tiny spaces because of that and that, whenever you're in that space, it feels as though you're choking. En had a sadistic smile on his face. "He stopped screaming about two hours ago. I don't need a son who can't bring honour to us," he adds.

"He's your son! You shouldn't care about goddamn honour, you should fucking care about him!" I yell at him, but it seems as though he's not listening. He just continues.

"When I am satisfied with his punishment, I'll take him back to China with me. It was wrong to take him here. He'll pay some more after we arrive in China, of course, and then he'll marry the daughter of Mao. He'll forget all about you and he'll bring us honour," he says to me. I can't take it anymore and I launch myself at him, even though it isn't the wisest decision I have made in my life. The guy is three times as big as me, but that might mean I also have an advantage- I'm shorter and quicker.

I manage to land a few punches on him; he punches me too, but not enough to knock me out. I hit him on the nose and I hear something crack- I hope I broke it. I hope I broke it good, like the way he keeps trying to break Ren. I manage to keep the fight up, even make him pant, but then he pulls out something silver from his pocket. It's a knife. I try to dodge it, but he hits my arm. I yell in agony, but don't stop trying to punch him. I land another one on his jaw and he strikes back with the knife, this time pushing it into my stomach.

"Hasn't your father ever taught you to pick your fights, boy? Or was he a faggot like you and couldn't even knock out a two-year old?"

"Don't you dare talk about my father like that," I grind out.

"So now you want to defend your father's honour? First you- you behave like that, sinful, and then you don't want people to insult your father?" He asks me.

"My dad would be proud of me no matter what!" I yell right back at him, though I keep feeling weaker. I pull the knife out of my stomach and press my hands against the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. "He was a better man and father than you'll ever be!" He laughs at me, before suddenly launching himself at me and punching me right in the face. I fall to the floor and, before he can hit or kick me again, I grab the knife that's still lying on the floor and stab it in his leg. He screams as I pull it out again, scrambling to my feet and holding the knife in front of me.

"Tell me where he is," I pant, saying the words slowly to En. He has fallen to the ground, because of the wound on his leg and obviously can't stand up because of it. "Tell me, or I'll kill you," I add, taking a step closer to En. He swallows and nods to the staircase.

"His room," he says simply and I don't need to hear anymore- I run up the stairs immediately, to the right, to his room. I throw the door open and see a chest-like thing standing in the middle of it. I can't hear any sound coming out of it, but I quickly undo the straps and unlock it. Ren's lying there, wide awake, but his eyes are hollow, as if he's dead. I can see him breathe though, so I lift him up out of the box and lie him on the bed, even though my wound hurts like hell.

Right when I collapse on the bed, I can vaguely see someone else enter the room; actually, two persons. One with green hair and the other one with black hair. I pass out.

--

I wake up in a hospital bed, bandages all over me. I quickly glance around, still having memories about the fight with En and… Ren. Was he alright? Was he okay? I shake my head and try to climb out of bed, before a hand stopped me. I follow the arm and see Yoh standing and smiling lazily from the chair next to my bed.

"Don't worry Horo, it's alright," he says, his voice comforting. "But damn, you gave us quite a scare." He nods over to Manta, who is sitting next to him, and then to Jun, who is smiling at me, though with tears in her eyes. Pirika is lying on a bed next to me.

"Yoh," I grab his shoulders. "Where's Ren? What happened?"

"Calm down," Yoh says, gently pushing me back on the bed. "Like I said, it's alright. I saw you running away from school and I figured something was wrong, so I followed you. When I arrived at Ren's house, Jun was also there and she let me in. We saw a big guy- Ren's dad?- lying in front of the staircase. Jun briefly looked if her father was going to live, before we both ran up the stairs. We saw you and Ren and immediately called for an ambulance."

"And Ren, is he alright? And what about En?" Yoh waved his hand in front of me.

"I'm getting to that, take it easy," he says. Sometimes, I want to strangle him and that damn laziness of his. "Jun also called for the police and they took En with them. Ren was in shock for a while, but he's alright now. He's lying in the other room, but he's sleeping. He's been awake though, but wasn't allowed to see you, since he was still weak from being locked up in that chest."

"And Pirika?"

"Oh, you were out of it for two days, so she slept here. She's just exhausted because she stayed up the whole time," Yoh grins at me and I sigh. Everything's alright. Suddenly, Jun comes up to me, with tears in her eyes.

"Thank you," she says as she hugs me. "Thank you." And then, as sudden as she had given me a hug, she smacks me. "But you're an idiot," she sobs again. "You could've died!" I grab her hand and look at her.

"I'd rather die than leave Ren," I say honestly. She nods at me and gives me another hug. I stand up, swaying, but I keep my balance. "I want to see him," I state firmly. Yoh nods and offers me his arm so I can walk.

"Just be careful not to tear your stitches," he says to me. I nod, but don't really listen. He guides me slowly to the room Ren is lying in. He is lying by the window, sleeping peacefully on the white sheets and, finally, I feel relieved; he really is alright. I just had to see it with my own eyes. Yoh lets go of me and leaves the room, after setting me on the chair besides his bed.

As soon as Yoh is out of the room, I reach out to stroke away a strand of hair from his face. His eyes flutter open and he looks at me- his face pale and his eyes widened.

"Horo!" he exclaims, sitting up straight immediately and pulling me on the bed. I grin at him. "Idiot!" he says, smacking me on my head, tears in his eyes. I blink. "Idiot!" he repeats. "Fighting with my father like that, damnit Horo, you could've gotten killed!" I wrap my arms around his neck.

"You're the idiot here," I tell him. "Telling your father about us like that, without me. If-if I had been there, he might've-" But I'm not able to say anything more, as he silences me with a kiss.

"I told him, because I wanted to. I wanted him to know," he says, pulling back. "I need to do that more often to prevent you from talking," he adds. I smack him on the head playfully, before diving in for another kiss from him. "Thanks, for not leaving me," he says; I lie down on the bed, which is in fact way too small for two people, but we can squeeze ourselves in.

"So, what now? What are you going to do?" Ren's eyes darkened.

"Grandfather offered me to take me in. Father… it's hard. Jun is staying in Japan, she's buying an apartment here in the neighbourhood. She offered to let me live with her too, but I have my own money as well," he said, hesitantly. "So, I thought that I'd buy my own apartment and maybe, you- you'd like to come live with me," he rambles on and my inner-chibi is skipping around merrily. But, then I remember Pirika. I don't want to leave her; she's the only family member I have.

"I can't leave my sister," I say to him. He scrunches his nose.

"Although her attempts at getting me to go out with her, are very annoying, she'll be moving in with us too. I already thought you'd say that," Ren states and I laugh, kissing his forehead.

"I'll help you pay it though, I'll just use the money my uncle gives us every month," I grin at him. "He owes me money for babysitting Pirika all these years." Ren smirks at me.

"You really are hopeless, Usui Horo."

"Why, thank you, Tao Ren."

**The End**

--

_Well, that was it o.o. There will be a prologue, once I write it xD, but there will be one._

_I'd like to thank every reviewer (Especially DarkTaoAngel, who kept reviewing every chapter. I thank you m'dear! xD) and I hope you've enjoyed this short little fic. Until next time :3!_


End file.
